InvenSense and GlobalFoundries Develop Ultrasonic Fingerprint Sensor

MEMS sensor technology developer InvenSense has teamed up with GlobalFoundries (GF) to develop ultrasonic fingerprint scanning technology for the mobile and IoT markets.

Called the InvenSense UltraPrint Ultrasound Fingerprint Touch Sensor Solution, it’s the product of a development process that leverages GF’s aluminum nitride manufacturing technology to enable the production of piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers. In layman’s terms, that basically means the companies have developed a reliable ultrasonic scanner that can operate on a small scale, such as within a smartphone. And because the scanner is ultrasonic, it can be deployed under cover glass or even beneath metal.

The solution arrives at a time when numerous companies are intensively trying to pioneer in-display fingerprint scanners. Fingerprint Cards took a technological leap at the end of last year with a under-glass sensor deployments, and at this year’s MWC Goodix proclaimed that it had developed the world’s first in-display fingerprint sensor. Apple, meanwhile, appears intent on bringing in-display fingerprint authentication to this year’s new iPhone, but as usual the company is being highly secretive about the technology to be used.

InvenSense’s solution could thus prove popular among smartphone makers. That could be good news for Precise Biometrics, too, given that its fingerprint algorithm software was licensed by InvenSense last autumn, but it isn’t yet clear if it will be used in the latter’s new ultrasonic solution.